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Back to Full Canon PowerShot S60 Review
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	*	5.0-Megapixel CCD delivers 2,592 x 1,944 pixel images
	*	4x optical zoom lens covers 28-100mm equivalent range
	*	Nice mix of high-end features, easy usability
	*	Updated, beautiful, rugged, compact design

Introduction

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The PowerShot S60 is a significant update of last year's best-selling PowerShot S50 model. At the top of Canon's "mid-sized compact" line, the sleek S60 takes last year's design and adds a wide-angle zoom lens (reaching down to 28mm equivalent focal length at its widest zoom setting) to an already superbly crafted camera. Hidden within the PowerShot S60's trim case though, is a new level of optical sophistication, thanks to Canon's advanced molding process that permits aspheric lens elements to be (reliably) crafted from high-index optical glass for the first time. The result is a zoom lens that's capable of very wide angle operation, in a very compact form factor, yet with lower levels of distortion than was formerly possible.

In addition to the new lens technology it uses, the 5.0-megapixel PowerShot S60 also includes a new set of updates to both the user interface and controls. Unlike previous models in this line, the S60 does not match model number to resolution. The Canon PowerShot S30 was a 3.3 megapixel digital camera, the PowerShot S40 and S45 were 4 megapixel units, and the S50 was a 5 megapixel design. To avoid confusion the S60 might have been better named the S55, because up to this point the SXX series of PowerShots has followed this convention. Regardless, the S60 is an advanced point-and-shoot style digital camera that incorporates many features from the high-end Canon PowerShot G5 model, but in a more compact, portable format. With the exception of the rotating LCD monitor and external hot shoe, the PowerShot S60 has almost all of the advanced features of the G5, including an impressive range of automatic and manual exposure controls, a JPEG and RAW file formats, and in-camera adjustment of image contrast, sharpness, and color saturation, as well as a user-controlled AF point that can be moved around the screen in the manual exposure modes. Superior to the G5's 3x lens is the 3.6x optical zoom lens which reaches a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 28mm at its widest. In addition to these features, relative to last year's very popular S45 and S50, the S60 also offers an updated user interface (a slight redesign), and the new Print/Share button that is appearing on all new PowerShot cameras, designed to make the PictBridge direct-to-inkjet printer connection that much easier. With an estimated selling price at introduction of only $499, the PowerShot S60 is a really excellent bargain--a full $100 less than last year's S50. It is sure to be a popular choice among business users, prosumer photographers, advanced amateurs, and even beginning photographers who want a high-quality digital camera that delivers large, sharp, colorful picture files.

High Points

• 5.0-megapixel CCD delivering up to 2,592 x 1,944-pixel resolution images.
• 1.8-inch, color LCD monitor.
• 3.6x optical zoom lens, 5.8-20.7mm (equivalent to a 28-100mm lens on a 35mm camera) with auto and manual focus, adjustable focus area, 9-point AiAF in Auto and Image Zone modes, and focus bracketing.
• Up to 4.1x digital telephoto.
• Full automatic, program AE, shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual exposure modes, as well as five preset exposure modes and a Custom mode.
• Manually adjustable aperture settings from f/2.8 to f/8.0, depending on zoom setting (f/5.3 at max optical zoom).
• Manually adjustable shutter speed settings from 1/2000 to 15 seconds. (Aperture of f/4 or smaller aperture is required to achieve 1/2000 sec.)
• ISO sensitivity equivalents: Auto, 50, 100, 200, and 400.
• Three metering modes: Evaluative, center-weighted average, and spot metering
• White balance setting with nine modes, including a new underwater mode, and a manual setting.
• Built-in flash with five operating modes and flash exposure compensation (power adjustment in Manual mode).
• JPEG and RAW still image file formats, movies saved as AVI / Motion JPEG and WAVE formats.
• Images saved to CompactFlash Type I or II memory cards, 32MB card included.
• Movie mode with sound.
• Interval shooting mode, plus two Continuous Shooting modes.
• Stitch-Assist mode for creating panoramic pictures.
• Record up to 60 seconds of sound with individual images.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
• USB cable for high-speed connection to a computer.
• Canon Digital Camera utility applications, plus ArcSoft application software bundle. (ArcSoft PhotoStudio and VideoImpression, for both Mac and Windows)
• Powered by Canon NB-2LH rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, with optional AC adapter. (Increased power capacity over the pack that shipped with the S-45 and S-50.)

The S60's sleek, champagne body is made of high-impact polycarbonate, entirely surrounded with brushed and anodized aluminum body panels. Measuring only 4.49 x 2.22 x 1.5 inches (114 x 56.5 x 38.8 millimeters) with the lens retracted, and weighing just 8.11 ounces (230 grams) without the battery and memory card installed, the S60 actually isn't all that much longer and heavier than the "ultra-compact" Digital Elph models. Compared last year's PowerShot S50, it's a little longer, but a little slimmer and shorter, and almost three ounces lighter. Sliding open the protective lens cover powers on the camera, automatically extending the lens and placing the camera in Shooting mode. When slid closed, the cover stops just short of the lens barrel, giving it time to retract and shut down before you can close the cover completely (preventing the much-to-be-avoided "bumped lens" syndrome). Rather than incorporating the Playback mode on the camera's main Mode dial, the S60 has a Playback button that doubles as a Quick-Review button. At any time you can switch to Playback mode and scroll through captured images, and then quickly return to the Shooting mode without having to change the Mode dial, either by pressing the Playback button again or by pressing on the shutter. (You can also use this switch to access the Playback mode without opening the lens cover.) While the S60 has too many external controls to cluster them all on the right side of the camera, you'll find it suitable for one-handed operation in most situations. The S60 is small enough to fit into a coat pocket or purse, and comes with a 0.25-inch braided nylon wrist strap for added convenience.

The camera features an eye-level "real image" optical viewfinder that zooms along with the 3.6x lens and features a central autofocus / exposure target for composing images. Two LEDs on the left side of the viewfinder report the camera's status. When the camera is powered on in most Shooting modes, the 1.8-inch LCD monitor automatically illuminates. Pressing the Display button cycles through three display modes: screen on with image only, screen on with image and settings readout, and screen off. Depending on the Shooting mode, the LCD settings readout reports the flash setting, drive mode, metering mode, image size and quality, and the number of frames remaining. Additional functions are shown as they are enabled and battery status is only displayed when the remaining power is low.

The 5.8-20.7mm zoom lens (equivalent to 28-100mm on a 35mm camera) offers both manual and automatic focus control. Manual focus mode is accessed by holding down the MF button on the left side of the monitor and toggling the up and down arrows on the new Omniselector pad to the right of the LCD on the camera's back panel. A vertical scale on the LCD monitor shows the focus distance when manual focus is active. In Image Zone modes (Full Auto and modes like Portrait and Landscape), the S60 will select from among nine different AF frames automatically, depending on the location of the subject closest to the camera. In Creative zone modes, like Program or Shutter Priority, you can use the new Omniselector to manually position the AF frame wherever you like, within an area covering approximately the central 60 percent of the image area. Focus ranges from 1.4 feet (44 centimeters) to infinity in normal mode, and from an impressive 1.6 inches to 1.4 feet (4 to 44 centimeters) in Macro mode. The 4.1x Digital Zoom can be turned on in the Record menu, then activated by zooming past the maximum optical telephoto range with the camera's Zoom lever. (Remember that because digital zoom only enlarges the center portion of the CCD image, it compromises the image quality by reducing resolution.)

The S60 provides as much or as little exposure control as you want. All exposure modes are accessed by rotating the Mode dial on top of the camera. Canon divided the dial into three exposure types: Auto, Creative Zone, and Image Zone. Shooting in Auto mode puts the camera in charge of everything except the Flash and Macro modes. Exposure modes in the Creative Zone include: Program AE (P), Shutter Speed-Priority AE (Tv), Aperture-Priority AE (Av), Manual Exposure (M), and Custom (C). Program AE lets the camera choose the aperture and shutter speed settings, but gives you control over all other exposure options. Aperture and Shutter Speed Priority modes let you set one exposure variable (aperture or shutter speed) while the camera chooses the best value of the other variable (shutter speed or aperture). Manual mode gives you full control over all exposure parameters. (The camera's aperture can be set from f/2.8-f/5.3 (wide to tele) to f/8.0, and the shutter speed ranges from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds.) Finally, Custom mode lets you save a variety of specific exposure and function settings in one of the other modes, which can then be recalled instantly, simply by rotating the mode dial to the "C" position.

Exposure modes in the Image Zone include: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Fast Shutter Speed, Slow Shutter Speed, Stitch Assist, and Movie. Portrait, Night Scene, and Landscape all make automatic camera adjustments to optimize settings for specific shooting conditions. The Portrait mode uses a large aperture setting to produce shallow "depth of field," focusing on the subject while maintaining an out-of-focus background. Conversely, Landscape mode slows the shutter speed and maximizes depth of field with a small aperture setting. Night Scene mode illuminates your subject with flash, while using a slow shutter speed to increase exposure on background objects. The Stitch-Assist mode is Canon's panorama shooting solution, in which multiple, overlapping images can be captured horizontally, vertically, or in four quadrants, in clockwise sequence. Images can then be "stitched" together on a computer, using Canon's bundled PhotoStitch software. Movie mode lets you capture 30 seconds to three minutes of moving images with sound at resolutions of 640 x 480, 320 x 240, or 160 x 120 and either 10 or 15 frames per second. (30 seconds and 10 frames/second for 640 x 480, 3 minutes and 15 frames/second for the smaller sizes.)

The S60 has extensive exposure controls, most of which are accessed through the camera's external control buttons using sub-menus and indicators displayed on the LCD screen. They include a White Balance setting with nine options: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H (daylight), Flash, the new Underwater mode, and two Custom options; adjustable ISO sensitivities including Auto and manually selected values of 50, 100, 200, and 400; Exposure Compensation from -2 to +2 EV, in one-third-step increments; Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB), with a series of three exposures spanning a range of +/- 2 EV; Auto Focus Bracketing; a choice of Evaluative Light Metering, Center-Weighted Averaging, and Spot (AE Point) metering modes; and a handful of color and tone options, including custom adjustments for sharpening, color saturation, and contrast. The S60's built-in flash offers five operating modes (Auto; Red-Eye Reduction, Auto; Red-Eye Reduction, Normal; Flash On; or Flash Off) and Flash Exposure Compensation from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments. The Flash Exposure (FE) Lock function lets you lock the flash exposure setting for one specific subject in the frame. You can also manually control the flash output, and activate a Slow Synchro mode for longer exposures.

There are two Continuous Shooting modes. Standard Continuous Shooting captures multiple, successive still images, at about 1.5 frames per second, providing enough time to display each image briefly after it is captured. High Speed Continuous Shooting captures images at 2.0 frames per second, as long as you hold down the shutter release. At highest resolution, the camera was able to capture 8 frames before having to clear the buffer, and the flash fired all eight times (this was at close range, so the flash didn't have a lot of work to do). The number of images and actual shot-to-shot speed depend on several factors, most obviously including the amount of memory remaining on the flash card. An Interval shooting mode mimics time-lapse photography, capturing as many as 100 total images at set intervals from one to 60 minutes between frames.

In Replay mode, the LCD monitor provides a full-frame display of captured images, which you can view individually or as an index of nine thumbnail images simultaneously. The optical Zoom lever doubles as a Digital Enlargement button, which lets you enlarge previously-captured images as much as 10x for closer inspection, with the arrow keys providing navigation control for you to move around the enlarged images to pinpoint important details. Also in Replay mode, you can record up to 60 seconds of sound with individual images by pressing the Light Metering / Audio button.

Depressing the Display button one time in Replay mode brings up information about the captured image, including the file name, date and time it was recorded, compression, resolution, and what number it is in the sequence of captured images. Another press of the Display button brings up a thumbnail view of the image with detailed information such as the shooting mode, aperture, f/stop, exposure compensation, and metering mode. In this mode, the screen shows a histogram next to the image to show the distribution of tonal values. Any overexposed values will flash in the thumbnail image display.

Images are stored on CompactFlash Type I or II memory cards, with possible image resolutions of 2,592 x 1,944; 1,600 x 1,200; 1,024 x 768; and 640 x 480 pixels. Three JPEG compression levels are available, as well as a RAW data file format, which uses lossless image compression to preserve all the original data from the CCD in a relatively compact format. (Canon software or any one of several third-party applications is required to process RAW images.) A USB cable is provided for speedy connection to PC or Macintosh computers, and two software CDs offer an impressive selection of utilities. Canon's own Digital Camera software package includes ZoomBrowser EX (Win) and ImageBrowser (Mac) for downloading and organizing images, and processing RAW files; PhotoRecord (Win) and ImageBrowser for printing images; PhotoStitch for merging panoramic images captured in Stitch-Assist mode, and the unique "RemoteCapture" application that lets you operate the camera remotely through your computer. ArcSoft PhotoStudio and VideoImpression software packages for both Mac and Windows operating systems complete the bundle.

An A/V cable connects the camera to a television, with NTSC and PAL timing options available via the Setup menu. Power is supplied by a new rechargeable NB-2LH lithium battery with a rated capacity 26% greater than that of the previous version of the battery. A charger ships with the camera as well. An optional AC power adapter is available as a separate accessory.

Overall, I liked the PowerShot S60 a lot, with well thought-out updates to the external controls and a wider-angle zoom lens that make it a worthy upgrade. It offers the extensive exposure control I'm accustomed to seeing in much larger digicams, packed into a reasonably slim, portable camera body. Its varying levels of exposure control are great for novices who want to learn camera functions incrementally, while also providing the level of precise control needed to satisfy advanced photographers. The nice wide angle lens is particularly welcome, allowing one to capture a room with greater ease. The updated interface, expanded custom features, and overall increased flexibility of the camera combine to make this a really exceptional camera in every respect.

Similar in shape and style to a high-quality point-and-shoot 35mm film camera, the PowerShot S60 measures 4.49 x 2.22 x 1.53 inches (114 x 56.5 x 38.8 millimeters) and weighs approximately 10.1 ounces (286 grams) with the battery and storage card installed. It has a sturdy, dark grey polycarbonate inner body, covered by strong brushed and anodized aluminum body panels. The overall result is a very solid-feeling camera that exudes an air of quality and refinement. The sliding clamshell cover adds an attractive accent to a very sleek, streamlined design. While the S60 is a bit too long and heavy for the typical shirt pocket, it should fit easily into a large coat pocket or purse, and the quarter-inch wrist strap makes toting it around very convenient. Its streamlined shape means it won't easily snag on anything no matter where you put it.

The front of the camera includes a telescoping 3.6x zoom lens, optical viewfinder window, and a bright light emitter that serves multiple purposes, including autofocus assist, red-eye reduction, and the self-timer countdown. All of these items are covered by the sliding lens cover when it's closed. The built-in flash is positioned in the upper right corner of the front panel (as viewed from the front), and the lens cover doubles as finger grip when opened, its slight ridge providing a grip for your fingers. Beneath the flash are the Microphone and Remote sensor.

On the right side of the camera (as viewed from the back) is a single metal eyelet for attaching the nylon wrist strap. A small indentation at the very bottom of the camera on this side marks a sliding hatch that provides access for the AC power adapter cable.

The opposite side of the camera has a soft rubber terminal cover that opens to reveal the A/V Out and Digital jacks; the bottom pulls out further so the cover can swing out of the way to make connections easier.

The S60's top panel features a Mode dial on the right, with 13 Shooting positions divided into three basic categories: Auto Exposure, Image Zone, and Creative Zone. The Shutter button is located to the right of the Mode dial. On the left side of the top panel is a speaker that plays back sound recorded by the mic on the front.

The majority of the exposure controls are located on the camera's back panel, along with the optical viewfinder and LCD monitor. The optical viewfinder features two LED lamps that report camera status. To the left of the viewfinder are the Macro / Jump and Flash / Index buttons. To the far right is the new zoom rocker, placed where the navigator used to be on the S50; I think this placement is an improvement. A whole new control cluster appears to the right of the LCD, at the center of which is the new 5-way navigator (Omni Selector in Canon-speak). The Set button is placed in the middle of the four way nav selector. Upper left of this is the Playback button that can be used to review captured images at any time, whether the camera is powered off with its lens cover closed, or when it's turned on in one of the 13 Shooting modes. Right of that is the new Print/Share button appearing on all new PowerShot cameras. It glows blue when the camera is connected and ready to print to a PictBridge printer or transfer images to a computer. The Display and Menu buttons are below these.

Other camera controls on the back panel include the FUNC, Manual Focus / Delete, and Light Metering / Audio buttons located on the left of the LCD monitor. The FUNC control calls up a menu display with Exposure Compensation, White Balance, Drive, ISO, Effect, Bracket, Flash Exposure Compensation, and Image Resolution and Quality settings. The Light Metering / Audio button lets you choose between Evaluative Light Metering, Center-Weighted Averaging, and Spot (AE) Point metering modes. Pressing the Light Metering/ Audio button in replay mode lets you record up to 60 seconds of sound with individual images.

The S60's bottom panel is reasonably flat, with a sliding door to access the combined CompactFlash and battery compartment, and a threaded metal tripod mount on its left. The tripod mount is positioned way off-center, making it easier to make quick battery changes while working with a small tripod, something I'm probably more sensitive to than most users, given the amount of on-tripod shooting I do. Canon's AC adapter uses a "dummy battery" design, with the cord exiting from a small opening on the camera's right hand side, providing a convenient way to get power to the camera while on a tripod.

The S60 features both an eye-level optical viewfinder and a 1.8-inch LCD monitor on the back panel for image composition. The real-image optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens (except in Digital Telephoto mode, which requires the LCD monitor), and displays incomplete crosshairs (they don't actually cross) in the center of its screen. While there's no dioptric adjustment to adapt the viewfinder optics to your vision, the eyepiece does have an unusually high "eyepoint," making it well-suited to eyeglass wearers. Two LED lights next to the viewfinder report the camera's status during certain operations. For example, when you depress the Shutter button halfway, a steady orange light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record; a flashing green light indicates that an image is either being written to, read from, or erased from the CompactFlash card; a steady orange light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record; and a flashing orange light indicates a camera-shake warning (i.e. the shutter speed is too slow to handhold), or the battery is charging. The lower LED light glows yellow when the camera is set in Macro or Manual focus modes, and flashes yellow when focus cannot be achieved.

Measuring 1.8 inches diagonally, Canon's low-temperature, polycrystalline silicon, TFT, color LCD monitor automatically displays camera settings when the camera is powered on. LCD brightness can be adjusted to either of two levels via the setup menu, and the screen seemed to have better than average visibility in sunlight. The Display button controls the image and information display. One press shows the image without settings, and two presses show the image with settings. Depending on the Shooting mode, the LCD reports the flash setting, drive mode, metering mode, image size and quality, and the number of frames remaining. Additional functions are shown as they are enabled and battery status is only displayed when power is low. A third press of the Display button cancels both displays.

In Replay mode, the LCD monitor provides a full-frame display of captured images, which you can view individually by scrolling left or right with the arrow buttons on the Multicontroller. Depressing the Flash / Index button brings up a thumbnail index display of nine images at a time, which you can also scroll through with the arrow buttons. The Zoom rocker doubles as a Digital Enlargement button (marked by magnifying glasses), which allows you to enlarge an image up to 10x its normal size on the screen. Playback magnification begins at 2x, and proceeds in fairly smooth steps to the maximum of approximately 10x. This degree of enlargement is very handy, as it's sufficient to check focus accuracy and depth of field, something that's difficult to do on cameras with lower playback magnification. The arrow keys permit you to move around the enlarged image and check fine details.

By default, the LCD screen displays basic information about the captured images, including the file name, date, and time it was recorded, compression, resolution, and what number it is in the sequence of images stored on the memory card. Depressing the Display button once brings up a thumbnail view of the image with more detailed information such as the shooting mode, aperture, f/stop, exposure compensation, and metering mode. In addition, the screen shows a histogram next to the image to indicate the distribution of tonal values. Besides the histogram display (and actually much more useful), any blown-out highlights in the image will blink from white to black and back again, letting you see exactly where detail has been lost. (I particularly like this form of display, applaud Canon for including it, and hope to see even more manufacturers adopt it in the future.)

As is often the case in digicams with both optical and LCD viewfinders, the S60's viewfinder is rather tight, showing only 82 percent of the final image area, at all lens zoom settings. Thankfully though, the S60's LCD viewfinder is essentially perfect, showing exactly what the camera will ultimately capture.

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The S60 features an advanced built-in, 3.6x, 5.8-20.7mm telescoping zoom lens (equivalent to a 28-100mm lens on a 35mm camera). When the lens cover is opened, the camera powers on and the lens telescopes out from the camera body into its operating position, projecting about 31mm (1.22 inches) from the camera body. It retracts again when the camera is shut off. Focus can be automatically or manually controlled, with a range of 1.4 feet (44 centimeters) to infinity in normal mode. Macro mode features a focus range of 1.6 inches to 1.4 feet (4 to 44 centimeters) in wide-angle mode and 1.0 inches to 1.4 feet (30 to 44 centimeters) in telephoto mode. The greatest magnification in macro mode occurs with the lens at the wide angle end of its range, delivering an impressive minimum area of only 2.28 x 1.71 inches (58 x 43 millimeters). The lens aperture adjusts automatically or manually, with an f/2.8 to f/8.0 range, depending on the zoom setting. (The f/2.8 aperture is only available when the lens is at its wide angle setting. In telephoto mode, the maximum aperture is f/5.3.)

The S60 features some very advanced optics at its core, technology that allows this camera to achieve not only a wider angle of view, but a thinner profile as well. Canon calls it UA, which is shorthand for Ultra-high refractive index Aspherical lens. Canon says they have perfected a way to use highly refractive glass in aspherical lenses. This apparently has been difficult or impossible to do in the past, because highly-refractive glass warps considerably as it cools, introducing errors in the ultra-critical shape of the lens surface. Canon's technical reps say that they estimate that Canon is a year or more ahead of other lens manufacturers in the technology necessary to produce these optics in mass quantities. Because its advanced optics, the S60 has a wider angle of view and a thinner profile than its predecessors, whereas previous lens technology would actually have required a thicker camera to achieve such a wide angle.

In the manual exposure modes (that is, all modes but Auto), the S60 offers a manual focus option. Manual focus is activated by depressing the Manual Focus (MF) button on the left side of the rear panel. A distance indicator appears on the LCD monitor, providing a reference scale for focusing. While the MF button is held down, the up and down arrows of the Omni Selector can be used to adjust the focus (the top of the scale represents infinity). Whatever focus was selected remains in effect when the MF button is released. Autofocus operation can be restored by pressing the MF button a second time. The LCD scale displayed during manual focusing is marked numerically, and a Setup menu option changes the units to meters or feet. This numeric feedback is very handy for times when there's not enough light to see the image on the LCD screen, forcing you to guesstimate the distance. For those times when there is enough light, a small window appears in the center of the viewfinder, showing a 2x-enlarged view of the center of the frame. This helps greatly in determining when you've reached optimum focus, but it would be nice to have an option for even greater magnification, perhaps set via the setup menu.

The S60 offers nine active autofocus (AF) areas in Image Zone modes, arrayed around the center of the frame. In Auto mode, the camera chooses which of the nine to use for focusing, based on which has a subject closest to the camera that it can get a good focus lock on. In Creative Zone modes, the camera pays attention to a single point at the center of the screen by default. With the frame highlighted by pressing the Set button, pressing the right or left arrow buttons on the Multicontroller scrolls it more or less continuously around roughly the central 60 percent of the image area, letting you place it wherever you'd like. Pressing the Set button again locks-in the chosen AF area position and restores the frame to its normal white color. When the camera is focusing, a green highlight around the edge of the frame indicates that the image is focused, while a yellow highlight indicates that the camera is having trouble focusing. If dim subject lighting requires it, a very bright amber LED autofocus assist light on the front of the camera automatically illuminates whenever autofocus is active. (The AF-assist light can be turned off via a menu option.)

The S60's autofocus bracketing option captures three successive images with focus set for the current position, behind, and in front of the subject. The Focus Bracketing function is accessed via the Drive option of the Function menu, and requires that Manual focus be enabled and set. You can adjust the amount of the bracketing via the user interface, but the variation is in arbitrary units. (That is, you can change the relative amount, but there's no indication of just how much the focus is actually being varied. Probably reasonable, given that the variation in focus distance will vary quite a bit as a function of the manually-selected focusing point.)

The S60's 4.1x Digital Zoom must be enabled through the Record menu, as it is disabled by default. Once enabled, it is activated whenever you zoom past the maximum optical telephoto range with the Zoom rocker. Once the Digital Zoom function is activated, press the Zoom rocker to the right and hold it until it stops at maximum telephoto, then release the lever and press it toward the right again. I always warn readers that digital zoom only enlarges the center portion of the CCD image, and compromises the image quality by reducing resolution and enlarging noise patterns. Note that Digital Zoom is not available in the RAW file format.

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The PowerShot S60 offers excellent exposure control, with Automatic, Program AE (P), Shutter Speed Priority AE (TV), Aperture Priority AE (Av), Manual (M) exposure modes, and a handful of special settings for specific shooting situations. Under the Automatic exposure mode, the camera controls both shutter speed and aperture settings, but lets the user control the Flash, Macro, Digital Zoom, Drive Mode, Compression, and Resolution settings. The Program AE mode also controls shutter speed and aperture settings, but also provides access to other exposure controls not offered in Auto mode, including Exposure Compensation, Flash Exposure Compensation, Spot Metering, ISO adjustment, AE lock, Auto Exposure Bracketing, White Balance, Contrast, Sharpness, and Color Saturation.

Shutter Priority mode puts you in control of the shutter speed setting (from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds ), while the camera chooses a corresponding lens aperture. At apertures wider than f/4, it's important to note that the camera is only capable of 1/1,250 as its maximum shutter speed. As with the Program AE mode, you maintain control over all other exposure options. Aperture Priority works along similar lines, except that you control the aperture (f/2.8 to f/8.0) and the camera chooses the best corresponding shutter speed. Both the shutter speed and aperture values are displayed on the LCD monitor. If the camera can't find an aperture or shutter speed to produce the correct exposure with the shutter speed or aperture you've selected, the LCD indicators will turn red, letting you know that you need to change the setting you selected. A Custom (C) mode lets you save a (wide) variety of exposure settings previously saved in any of the P, Tv, Av, or M exposure modes, including menu settings, zoom position, and manual focus. Once saved, the exposure settings automatically come up when you enter Custom mode.

As just mentioned, in all exposure modes, shutter times faster than 1/1,250 are only available at apertures of f/4.0 and smaller. For the record, it's fairly common to see top shutter speeds limited to smaller lens openings, as the shutter speed limit becomes a function of how long it takes for the shutter aperture to transit the light cone of the lens, which is itself governed by the size of the lens' aperture.

A number of preset "scene" exposure modes are also available for shooting under special conditions. These modes preset a variety of camera options, letting complete novices capture decent pictures in challenging situations without having to know all the ins and outs of the camera. Portrait mode uses a large aperture setting to reduce depth of field, resulting in blurred backgrounds and strong focal emphasis on the primary subject. Landscape mode uses a small aperture to keep both the foreground and background in sharp focus. A slow shutter speed is also common in Landscape mode, so it's recommended that you use a tripod.

Night Scene mode uses a slow shutter speed to capture the color and detail of evening settings, along with a flash exposure to illuminate the primary subject in the foreground. By using slow shutter speed and the flash together, the overall scene is more evenly exposed. This mode can also be combined with the redeye reduction flash for portraits, or the flash can be turned off. Portrait subjects should be warned though, to stay still after the flash, until the shutter is closed.

Fast Shutter is provided for fast-moving subjects such as sporting events, while Slow Shutter is available for creating a sense of motion in fast-moving subjects. Fast shutter speeds stop action to maintain sharp focus on moving subjects, while slow shutter speeds tend to blur the subject because the shutter stays open longer to record the image. This last effect is particularly striking when used with swiftly moving water such as that found in water falls or streams.

The S60's Effects options have been moved from the Mode dial position to an option under the Function menu (displayed by pressing the FUNC button). The Effects setting provides a choice of six color and image options, including Vivid color, Neutral color, Low Sharpening, Sepia tone, Black-and-White, and Custom. The Custom option accesses Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation adjustments. Effects are shown on the monitor so you can view the image before taking the exposure.

A quick-review mode lets you quickly confirm the most recently recorded image. To access the Review mode, you simply push the Playback button next to the upper right corner of the LCD to switch to image playback. If you like, you can immediately erase the displayed image by pressing the Manual Focus / Delete button, which calls up a small erase menu on the bottom of the monitor. To return to Shooting mode, press the Replay button to the right a second time, or simply touch the Shutter button. Like most Canon cameras though, you effectively have an "instant" review mode available at any time, simply by holding down the shutter button after you've snapped the picture: The just-captured image will remain on the LCD until you release the shutter button.

Exposure compensation can be adjusted from –2 to +2 exposure values (EV), in one-third-step increments. The camera's metering system offers three operating modes, which include Evaluative Light Metering, Center-Weighted Averaging, and Spot AE Point. Metering mode is selected by pressing the Metering / Microphone button on the left side of the LCD monitor. Evaluative metering divides the image into several zones and determines the exposure based on the position of the subject, image brightness, ambient light, direct light, and backlighting. Center-weighted averaging is based on an averaged light reading of the overall scene, but places more emphasis on the center of the viewfinder or LCD monitor. Spot metering reads only a specific point in the viewfinder. Through the Record menu, you can choose to base the spot reading on the center of the frame or the adjustable autofocus frame, which you can position anywhere within the central ~60 percent of the image area.

Another high-end feature brought over from Canon's G-series digicams is independent exposure lock. With most digicams, you can lock both focus and exposure by half-pressing and holding the Shutter button prior to the shot itself. This can be very handy for off-center subjects. Sometimes though, you want to lock the focus on one part of the subject, but set the exposure based on a different part. On the S60, this is accomplished by half-pressing the Shutter button (which will set both focus and exposure), and then subsequently pressing the Metering/Audio button at bottom left, to reset the exposure. Of particular note, this option works for flash exposures as well, whenever the flash is enabled. Very slick.

The S60 offers nine White Balance modes, including Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H (daylight), Flash, Underwater (for use with the optional underwater case) and Custom. The Custom mode allows you to manually set the white balance by holding a white card in front of the camera and pressing the Metering / Audio button to set the value. You can now save two separate Custom white balances, so that you can quickly switch back and forth without having to reshoot a white card. This is extremely useful for a party situation, where you may be moving in and out of different light sources.

ISO film speed equivalents on the S60 are set in the Function menu, with choices of Auto, 50, 100, 200, and 400. The higher the ISO setting, the more you can extend the camera's exposure range in low-light situations. Just keep in mind that higher ISO values have progressively lower quality levels, with increased image noise.

Flash

The S60's built-in flash operates in one of five modes: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction (Auto), Red-Eye Reduction (Flash On), Flash On, and Flash Off. The Auto mode tells the camera to determine when flash is necessary, based on existing exposure conditions. Flash On means that the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of lighting conditions, and Flash Off completely disables the flash. The two redeye reduction modes fire a small pre-flash before the full flash, to reduce the redeye effect in portraits. The difference between the two redeye modes is that the auto mode lets the camera decide when to use the flash, while the Flash On mode fires the flash with every exposure. All flash modes are accessed by pressing the Flash / Index button located to the left of the optical viewfinder. A Slow-Synchro mode is available through the Record menu, which combines the flash with a slower shutter speed. The slower shutter speed lets more of the ambient light fall on the camera's sensor, brightening background objects. You can also decide to synchronize the flash with the first or second curtain of the shutter, to control whether motion-blur trails precede or follow moving subjects. (Most of the time, you'll want to use second-curtain sync, so any motion blur will follow behind the subjects, for a more natural look.)

The flash exposure can be adjusted from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments through the Function menu, and flash and ambient light exposure can be controlled separately in slow-sync flash mode. Additionally, you can adjust the flash output to 1/3, 2/3, or Full, through the same Function menu option (in Manual mode or when the Flash Adjust option of the Record menu is set to Manual). This manual flash power control is useful for balancing the light of the internal flash with that from external "slave" strobe units. As mentioned earlier, you can also lock the Flash Exposure (FE) setting for a specific area of your subject, just as you would with a normal exposure. Begin by framing your subject as you would normally, and half-press the Shutter button to lock focus on your main subject. Then, reframe the scene to place the portion of the subject you want to expose for in the middle of the frame. While still holding the Shutter button down, press the Metering / Audio button to lock the flash exposure (an asterisk will appear at the bottom of the screen). The flash will fire a pre-flash to lock the exposure reading, after which you can recompose your image and press the Shutter button all the way down to make the exposure with the FE lock in place. (Note: Pressing any other button after the Metering / Audio button will cancel the flash exposure lock.) Playing with it a bit in the office, I found that the flash exposure lock gave me a tremendous amount of control over flash exposures. This is definitely a feature that will be worth playing with a little if you end up owning an S60.

Canon rates the S60's flash as effective from 1.8 to 14 feet (35 centimeters to 4.8 meters) at maximum wide-angle and 1.8 to 6.6 feet (35 centimeters to 3 meters) at maximum telephoto. In my own tests, it illuminated the test target adequately out to the maximum 14 foot range of my test, but it's clear from looking at its images that it "cheats" a little to get there. As is the case with so many cameras these days though (particularly compact models), the S60 apparently "cheats" a little bit by boosting its ISO setting without informing the user. - Canon's File Viewer Utility software still reports the ISO as 50, but it seems clear from the noise levels my test images shot at 10-14 feet that some sort of boost was applied to the ISO to achieve the longer flash range.

Auto Exposure Bracketing
The Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) mode is accessed through the Drive option of the Function menu. It automatically captures a series of three images, each at a different exposure setting. You can manually set the exposure variables in one-third-step increments, from -2 to +2 EV. The camera makes all three exposures with just one press of the Shutter button. Unfortunately, this function cannot be used with flash photography. If the flash fires, only one image will be recorded. (The likely reason for this is that the onboard flash recharges too slowly to be usable in a multiple-exposure application like this.)

Continuous Shooting
The S60 has two Continuous Shooting modes, which are accessed through the Drive option of the Function menu. Standard Continuous Shooting captures multiple, successive still images, at about 1.4 frames per second, providing enough time to display each image briefly after it is captured. High Speed Continuous Shooting captures images at 1.8-2.2 frames per second, as long as you hold down the shutter release. The number of images and actual shot-to-shot speed depend on several factors, including the amount of memory remaining on the flash card and the size/quality of the images being acquired. (Canon rates the two modes at 1.5 and 2.0 frames/second respectively, see the detailed timing results further on in this review for the exact performance numbers I measured in my own tests.)

Movie Mode
The S60 also offers a Movie mode, which is accessed by turning the Mode dial on top of the camera to the miniature movie camera symbol (a camera will appear in the upper left corner of the LCD display). The AVI / Motion JPEG files are recorded at 640 x 480, 320 x 240, or 160 x 120 pixels. At the highest resolution, the camera can record up to 30 seconds of video, at 10 frames per second, while the two lower resolutions permit recordings as long as three minutes, at approximately 15 frames per second. (Naturally, these maximum recording times assume that sufficient space is available on the CompactFlash card.) To begin recording, you simply press the Shutter button all the way down and hold it there until the red circle in the upper right corner of the LCD appears. Once the red circle appears, you can release the Shutter button and the camera will continue recording. To end the recording, press the Shutter button again. The flashing green LED light next to the eye-level viewfinder indicates that the camera is storing the movie. When finished, you can view the recording by pushing the Playback button to the right and depressing the Set button. The camera will play back both moving images and sound. Note that the recording options are largely preset in Movie mode: Image resolution, Self-Timer, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, and Macro and Manual focus are the only adjustable functions. While the lens can be zoomed before and after movie recording, it cannot be activated during the recording process itself, and the camera's exposure is also set and fixed at the beginning of the recording interval.

Stitch-Assist Mode
The Stitch-Assist mode records a series of overlapping images to create horizontal or vertical panoramas, and 2x2-frame rectangular composites. A framing guideline for each format appears in the LCD monitor to help line up successive shots: After each image in the series is captured, a portion of it remains onscreen to serve as an alignment guide for the next shot in the series. This makes it much easier to line up each shot with the ones that went before it. For the panoramas, you can take as many images in a series as you want, enabling you to record a full 360-degree circle of the surrounding scenery if you so desire. The 2x2 mode uses a series of only four images, starting from the top left corner and moving in a clockwise direction, to create a complete composite. Once captured, you can use Canon's included PhotoStitch program to seamlessly combine the images in your computer.

Self-Timer Mode
The Self-Timer is set through the Drive sub-menu in the Function menu. When set to Self-Timer, the camera displays the standard self-timer icon (a clock counting down) in the LCD display, and depressing the Shutter button activates a two- or 10-second countdown (depending on the Drive mode selected), during which a bright amber lamp on the camera's front panel blinks, gaining speed in the last two seconds. If the camera's Beep function is turned on in the Setup menu, you will also hear the beep counting down. The two-second option is very handy when you're shooting long exposures with the camera on a tripod, and want to avoid jiggling the camera and blurring the shot when you press the Shutter button with your finger. The two-second countdown is enough time for any vibrations to die down before the shutter opens, but not so long as to seriously slow your shooting.

Intervalometer
Set through the Record menu, the S60's Intervalometer mode lets you record images at set intervals, achieving the effect of time-lapse photography. Shooting intervals range from one to 60 minutes, with a maximum of 100 images in the series (depending of course, on the amount of space available on the memory and the image size and quality settings you've selected). Once you've set the parameters, pressing the Shutter button starts the series. Once the set number of shots has been captured, the camera shuts itself off.

Shutter Lag and Cycle Times

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Canon S60:

Overall, I'd rate the S60's timing performance as a bit better than average. It starts up and shuts down reasonably quickly, is reasonably fast from shot to shot, and has average shutter response times. It does excel in two areas though, namely prefocused shutter lag and RAW-format cycle times, both of which are quite a bit faster than average. All in all, not a first choice for sports photography, but not a bad performer either, and about the only reasonably compact option on the market for raw-format shooting, if you care at all about cycle times in that mode.

The PowerShot S60's user interface is straightforward and should present a relatively short learning curve if you read over the Camera User Guide. (Although there are a lot of features here, so I'd imagine that novice users could easily spend a couple of hours learning them all. Experienced digicam users should be able to come up to speed on the major functions in under an hour though.) I generally prefer to see external access to as many exposure controls as possible, and the S60 does provide a fair amount of control without resorting to the LCD menu system. The Function menu offers access to most of the common settings quite easily, and is accessed via the FUNC button (though it does still use the LCD monitor). Instead of successively cycling through a series of Function and Effects menus, the Function menu displays all of its options at once, meaning you only have to scroll down to the desired option. Also, the Function menu offers image resolution and quality settings, making them slightly faster to access than as if you had to fish through the main Record menu as on cameras from some other manufacturers. The S60's control buttons are somewhat spread out, so you'll likely have to operate the camera with two hands when adjusting settings or using the Manual Focus, although the Zoom and Multicontroller buttons are directly adjacent to the Shutter button, so you can easily shoot one-handed in most situations.

Shutter Button: Located on the right side of the camera's top panel, when the Shutter button is halfway depressed, it sets focus and exposure, and when fully depressed, it trips the shutter release. In Self-Timer mode, fully depressing the Shutter button triggers a two- or 10-second countdown before the shutter is released.

Mode Dial: To the left of the Shutter button, this notched dial is used to select the camera's shooting modes. Canon divides these functions into three categories: Auto, Image Zone, and Creative Zone. The options are as follows:

Auto: The camera controls everything about the exposure, except for Flash and Macro modes, and image size and quality settings.

"Creative Zone"

• Program AE (P): Places the camera in control of shutter speed and lens aperture, while you maintain control over everything else (i.e., white balance, ISO, metering, exposure compensation, flash, etc.).
• Shutter-Speed (Tv): Allows you to set the lens aperture from f/2.8 to f/8.0 (depending on the zoom setting), while the camera controls the shutter speed. In this mode, you maintain control over all other exposure variables.
• Aperture-Priority Av (Av): Allows you to control the shutter speed settings from 1/1,500 to 15 seconds, while the camera controls the aperture. All other exposure settings are available.
• Manual (M): Provides complete control over all exposure settings, including shutter speed and lens aperture.
• Custom (C): Accesses a set of previously-saved exposure settings.

"Image Zone"

• Portrait: Uses a large aperture setting to blur the background and keep the primary subject in sharp focus.
• Landscape: Employs a small aperture setting to help keep both the background and foreground in focus.
• Night Scene: Uses slower shutter speeds and flash for more balanced nighttime exposures. The slow shutter speed allows more ambient light to be recorded in the background, while the flash illuminates and freezes the subject. The Red-Eye Reduction mode can be used with this exposure mode to eliminate redeye in night portraits.
• Fast Shutter: Uses fast shutter speeds to stop action and maintain sharp focus on moving subjects.
• Slow Shutter: Uses slow shutter speeds to deliberately blur fast-moving subjects.
• Stitch-Assist: Allows you to record a series of images, either horizontally, vertically, or in a clockwise, four-quadrant pattern, to be "stitched" together into one large image or panorama on a computer.
• Movie: Records as much as three minutes of moving images with sound, at approximately 15 frames per second.

Zoom Lever: Now moved to the back behind the shutter button, the Zoom rocker extends the lens to maximum telephoto range when pushed to the right, and returns the lens to maximum wide-angle when pushed to the left. When Digital Zoom is engaged, pushing the Zoom Lever past maximum telephoto activates the Digital Zoom function. In Replay mode, the Zoom rocker magnifies the on-screen image when pushed to the right and returns it to normal magnification when pushed to the left.

Replay Button: Right of the LCD, the Playback button automatically puts the camera in Playback mode from any Shooting position. When the lens cover is closed, pushing the Replay button to the right turns on the camera in Replay mode. Pushing the button a second time turns off the Replay function.

Omni Selector: Located directly right of the LCD, the Omni Selector replaces the old Multicontroller from past Sxx cameras because some users found the earlier design too difficult to use. The Omni Selector is more like other digital cameras and PDAs, with a four way rocker disk on the outside and the Set button in the middle to confirm menu choices. The arrow keys navigate through menu options, while the Set button confirms menu selections. The combination is becoming universal and is easy to understand, and the S60's implementation is one of the better ones I've seen. The four arrow directions are easy to actuate, and I never had a problem with the camera being confused as to which arrow direction I was pressing. Likewise, the separate Set button in the center is cleanly separated from the arrow controls, so there's little chance of accidental interaction between them.

Pressing the Set button without an on-screen menu active lets you adjust the AF area, using the arrow keys to move the AF target frame freely around an area covering roughly 60 percent of the frame.

Menu Button: To the bottom right of the Omni Selector is the Menu button, which calls up the Record, Setup, My Camera, and Replay menus on the LCD display in all camera modes. A second press of the Menu button cancels the menu display.

Display Button: Bottom left of the Omni Selector is the Display button, which controls the LCD monitor's display mode. In Record mode, this button turns on the image display with the first press, activates the information display with the second press, and cancels both with the third press. In Playback mode, the button cycles through the captured image information displays.

Macro / Jump Button: Left of the optical viewfinder is the Macro / Jump button, which accesses the Macro function when the camera is in Record mode. In Replay mode, it calls up the "jump bar." When the jump bar is displayed, the right and left arrow buttons jump nine images forward or backward at a time, letting you quickly scan through the images on the memory card.

Flash / Index Display Button: Positioned in the very top left corner of the back panel, this button cycles through the Red-Eye Reduction (Auto), Auto, Red-Eye Reduction (Flash On), Flash On, and Flash Off flash modes. In playback mode, this button displays up to nine images at a time, in a thumbnail index format, on the LCD screen.

Exposure Compensation (EV)/White Balance (WB) / FUNC. Button: The top button on the left of the LCD menu, this button activates the on-screen Function menu. You can scroll between the menu items by pressing the up or down arrows on the Omni Selector, and select options for each with the left and right arrow buttons. Here's the list of options that can be controlled from here:

• Exposure Compensation: Increases or decreases the exposure from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments.
• White Balance: Sets the white balance value to Automatic, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, or Custom, with an option to save two different Custom settings for later use.
• Drive: Accesses Single, Continuous, or High-Speed Continuous shooting modes, as well as the two- and 10-second Self-Timer modes.
• ISO: Sets the camera's light sensitivity to Auto, or 50, 100, 200, or 400 ISO equivalents.
• Effects: Enables several image effects, including Vivid Color, Neutral Color, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black and White, or Custom. The Custom option lets you adjust Contrast, Sharpness, or Saturation, by pressing the Metering button while Custom is selected.
• Bracketing: Activates the Auto Exposure Bracketing or Focus Bracketing modes. When either mode is selected, pressing the Metering button accesses the exposure/focus parameters.
• Flash Exposure Compensation: This option lets you adjust the flash exposure compensation from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments. Or, if the Flash Adjust option of the Record menu is set to Manual, you can adjust the flash power to 1/3, 2/3, or Full output.
• Resolution and Quality: This setting adjusts the image resolution, with options of L (2,592 x 1,944 pixels), M1 (1,600 x 1,200 pixels), M2 (1,024 x 768 pixels), S (640 x 480 pixels), or RAW. Pressing the Metering button changes the setting to image quality, with options of Superfine, Fine, and Normal.

Manual Focus / Delete Button: Located beneath the FUNC. button, the Manual Focus / Delete button activates the Manual Focus if held down in Record mode, while the up or down arrow on the Multicontroller is actuated. In Replay mode, this button brings up the Delete menu on the LCD monitor.

Metering / Audio Button: Just below the Manual Focus / Delete Button , this control places the camera in Evaluative Light Metering, Center-Weighted Averaging, and Spot AE Point metering modes when the camera is in Record mode. The Metering button also accesses secondary menu options in the Function menu, when indicated on the LCD display. Pressing this button in Replay mode allows you to record up to 60 seconds of sound with individual images.

Record Menu: With the exception of the Auto exposure mode, and most of the Image Zone exposure functions, the Record menu provides virtually the same options for all exposure modes. These menus are accessed by depressing the Menu button once while in Shooting mode. Following are the available settings, with notes as to which are not available in Auto mode:

• Flash Sync: Fires the Slow Synchro flash to coincide with the opening (first curtain) or closing (second curtain) of the shutter. (n/a in Auto mode)
• Slow Synchro: Activates the Slow Synchro flash mode, or turns it off. (n/a in Auto mode)
• Red-Eye: Turns the Red-Eye Reduction preflash on or off.
• Wireless Delay: Lets you select a delay of zero, two, or ten seconds when operating the camera from the optional wireless remote.
• Spot AE Point: Sets the Spot AE Point option to Center or AF Point, which ties the AE point to the autofocus area. (n/a in Auto mode)
• MF Point Zoom: Turns on the zooming function of manual focus, which automatically enlarges the center of the screen to assist in determining the optimum focus setting. (n/a in Auto mode)
• AF Assist Beam: Activates the autofocus assist beam, which automatically turns on whenever the shutter button is half-pressed in dim lighting to help the camera focus.
• Digital Zoom: Enables or disables the digital zoom option.
• Review: Sets the time duration of the "quick review" display, with options of Off, or anywhere from two to 10 seconds.
• Intervalometer: Activates the Interval shooting mode, and lets you set the number of frames (two to 100) as well as the shooting interval (one to 60 minutes). (n/a in Auto mode)
• RAW+JPEG Rec: Lets you choose the size of a JPEG file to be saved along with the RAW image, when recording in RAW mode. (n/a in Auto mode)
• Save Settings: Saves the current exposure settings, so that they can be recalled in Custom mode. (n/a in Auto mode)
  

Play Menu: This menu is only available in the Replay mode. It lets you scroll through captured images; erase, protect, and rotate them; or set them up in a slide show or for printing on a DPOF compatible device. The Play menu offers the following selections:

• Protect: Write protects the currently displayed image from accidental deletion, except by card formatting. (Secondary screen)
• Rotate: Rotates captured images 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise. (Secondary screen)
• Erase All: Erases all images from the CompactFlash card.
• Slide Show: Automatically plays images in a slide show format. Options let you select all images, or one of three groups of predefined images, play times per image of 3-30 seconds per image or manual advance. (Secondary screens)
• Print Order: Sets the number of images to be printed on a DPOF compatible device, as well as the number of copies. (The S60 can now print directly to a wide range of Canon's dye-sub and inkjet printers, as well as third-party PictBridge-enabled printers, without the need for a computer.) (Secondary screens)
• Transfer Order: Sets selected images to be transferred with your e-mail software.
  

Setup Menu: The Setup menu provides universal camera control options that remain the same in both Shooting and Replay modes, with the exception of shutter and speaker volume (see below). This menu is accessed by depressing the Menu button once and scrolling to the right with the Omni selector arrow pad. Following are the available settings:

• Mute: Turns the camera's Beep sound On or Off.
• Volume: Lets you separately adjust the volume of the beep sounds for start-up, operation (button actuation within menus), self timer beeps, shutter sounds, and movie/audio clip playback. A total of five volume levels plus off are available for each sound. (Secondary screen)
• LCD Brightness: Adjusts the brightness level of the LCD monitor to Normal (small sun) or Bright (large sun).
• Power Saving: Lets you enable or disable the S60's auto power off feature, and change the time before the LCD display "sleeps" to 10, 20, or 30 seconds, or 1, 2, or 3 minutes. (Secondary screen)
• Date / Time: Sets the camera's internal clock and calendar. (Secondary screen)
• Format: Formats the CompactFlash card, deleting all images saved on the card. (Secondary screen)
• File No. Reset: Resets file numbering with each new CompactFlash card (On setting), or continues file numbering from card to card (Off setting). (Continuous file numbering is very handy to avoid accidentally overwriting images you've previously copied to your computer's hard drive.)
• Auto Rotate: When activated, automatically rotates images in the display that are shot vertically.
• Distance Units: Specifies whether manual focus distance is measured in feet and inches or meters and centimeters.
• Language: Changes the menu language to one of 12 languages. (Secondary screen)
• Video System: Sets the video output signal to NTSC or PAL.
  

My Camera Menu: This menu lets you customize certain camera functions, including the startup image, and startup, shutter, button, and self-timer sounds.

• Theme: Selects a common theme for each My Camera menu settings item. Four options are available, the first one being Off. When a theme is selected, all of the following settings automatically adjust to that theme.
• Startup Image: Sets the startup image when you turn on the camera to: Black screen, Canon logo, Canon logo w / sunset, and nature scene. You can also apply your own image using the Canon software, when the camera is connected to your computer.
• Startup Sound: Sets the startup sound when you turn on the camera to: No sound, Musical tone (1), Musical tone (2), or Birds chirping. You can also apply your own sounds using the Canon software.
• Operation Sound: Sets the sound when any control or switch is used (except the Shutter button). Options include Beep, Loud beep, Boing, and Chirp, or you can apply your own sound using the Canon software.
• Self-Timer Sound: Sets the sound that signals you when the shutter release is two seconds away. Options include Fast beeps (1), Fast beeps (2), Telephone ring, and Howling, or apply your own sound using the Canon software.
• Shutter Sound: Sets the shutter sound that you hear when you depress the Shutter button (there is no shutter sound in Movie mode). Options include Beep, Shutter sound, Boing, and Bark, or you can apply your own sound using the Canon software.
  

The Canon S60 uses CompactFlash memory cards for image storage, accommodating both Type I and II card sizes. This means that the camera should also be able to store images to a Hitachi MicroDrive for increased storage capacity, although I did not test the camera with one. A 32MB CompactFlash Type I memory card is supplied with the camera. Entire CompactFlash cards cannot be write-protected, however, the S60's Play menu allows you to write-protect individual image files, protecting them from accidental erasure, unless the card is formatted.

Still images can be saved at one of four resolutions (2,592 x 1,944; 1,600 x 1,200; 1,024 x 768; 640 x 480 pixels), while movie images are recorded at 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 pixels. Still images also have three JPEG compression levels available: Superfine, Fine, and Normal, plus a RAW setting that records the image straight from the CCD, with no further processing. RAW images require the Canon ZoomBrowser or ImageBrowser software for processing on a computer. The benefit of the RAW data file format is that it compresses the image file without any loss of image quality.

A full complement of interface software comes with the S60, as does a USB cable for speedy connection to a PC or Macintosh computer. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked the S60 at 508 KBytes/second. This is moderately fast for cameras with USB v1.1 interfaces, but a good bit slower than most USB v2.0-equipped models. Still, it's fast enough that you shouldn't need an external card reader. (Cameras with slow USB v1.1 interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)

Following are the approximate resolution / quality and compression ratios for a 32MB card (compression numbers are based on my own computations):

The S60 has a video-out port that supports both PAL and NTSC timing formats. The video output can be used for reviewing previously recorded images or running slide shows from the camera. It also shows all three LCD menu screens, as well as the preview display from the LCD viewfinder.

The output cable is a true AV cable, as it fans out into two RCA jacks, one for video, and one for audio. Plugged into any video monitor (or TV with direct video and audio inputs), the audio capabilities of the S60 make it a potentially effective portable presentation device.

Power

The S60 is powered by an internal Canon NB-2LH rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. This battery is new, offering up to 26% greater capacity than the previous model, based on Canon's mAh ratings of the two units. The camera ships with one battery pack and a charger. An AC Adapter Kit ACK700 is sold separately, with a power adapter, DC coupler, and power cord. A built-in rechargeable battery maintains the date, time, and other settings, drawing power from the main battery to recharge.

The camera has a Power Mode Indicator lamp directly to the left of the Replay button, which stays on as long as the camera is powered on. An orange light indicates Shooting mode, a green light indicates Replay or printer connection modes, and yellow indicates computer connection mode.

Because the S60 relies on its LCD display for viewing and selecting some of its settings, it can be somewhat of a drain on the power supply. Fortunately, the camera has an automatic shutdown mode to help conserve battery power, and you can save power by relying on the optical viewfinder whenever possible.

The proprietary battery connection won't let me perform my usual power measurements on the S60, but I did conduct a run-down test with a fully-charged battery, and with the S60 operating in its worst-case power drain mode. (Capture mode, with the LCD turned on.) This produced a very respectable run time of 132 minutes, and the camera would doubtless do much better were the LCD left turned off. I still strongly recommend purchasing a second battery right along with the camera, but overall the S60 showed good battery life for its size.

Included Software

The Canon PowerShot S60 comes with an very nice complement of software on the included CDs. Compatible with Windows (98, ME, 2000, and XP) and Macintosh operating systems, Canon's Digital Camera applications allow you to download images from the camera, process RAW data files, stitch together images shot in Stitch-Assist mode, set up images for printing, and even operate the camera remotely from the computer. For the Mac, the Canon Applications include ImageBrowser v3.6 and PhotoStitch 3.1. For Windows machines, the applications include ZoomBrowser EX 4.6, PhotoRecord 2.1, Camera TWAIN Driver 6.4, and Camera WIA Driver 6.2, and Apple QuickTime. It doesn't appear that the Canon software bundle includes their RemoteCapture program for controlling the camera remotely - You'll have to go with the PowerShot G5 or Pro1 to get that functionality.

In keeping with my standard test policy, the comments given here summarize only my key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the PowerShot S60's "pictures" page.

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the PowerShot S60 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

As with all Imaging Resource product tests, I encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the camera performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how S60's images compare to other cameras you may be considering.

• Color: Very good to excellent color, Incandescent and Manual white balance settings handle incandescent lighting well. The S60 produced pleasing, natural color throughout most of my testing. The Auto white balance setting produced good results with most subjects, although it was fooled by the heavy blue content of the difficult Musicians poster. Marti's skin tones were slightly warm in the Outdoor portrait shot, but the S60 handled the always-difficult blue flowers there very well, and other color was spot-on. Indoors, while the Auto white balance setting had trouble with the very warm-hued household incandescent lighting of the Indoor Portrait test, both the Manual and Incandescent white balance settings produced very good-looking results. All in all, the S60 produced the sort of bright, accurate, pleasing color I've come to expect from Canon cameras.
  
  
• Exposure: Accurate exposure, and a very effective contrast-adjustment option. The S60 handled my test lighting quite well, accurately exposing most shots. The Davebox shot looked slightly overexposed, but the camera still differentiated the subtle pastel tones of the Q60 target without too much trouble. Outdoors, under the high-key lighting, the camera performed well, requiring an average amount of positive exposure compensation. Indoors, the camera also required an average amount of positive exposure compensation, and the flash exposure was more accurate than most. I particularly liked the S60's contrast adjustment option, which did an excellent job of taming the harsh lighting of the Outdoor Portrait shot, adjusting both shadow and highlight ends of the tone curve, yet leaving the overall exposure unaffected. - A much better than average implementation of this very useful control.
  
  
• Resolution/Sharpness: Very high resolution, 1,200 lines of "strong detail." The S60 performed very well on the "laboratory" resolution test chart. It started showing artifacts in the test patterns at resolutions as low as 1,000 lines per picture height, in both horizontal and vertical directions. I found "strong detail" out to at least 1,200 lines in both directions. (I suspect that some reviewers would rate the camera more highly than this, as there's clearly still something visible, even beyond 1,200 lines, but my own more conservative standard is to resist rating cameras' resolution as extending past the point where the artifacts begin to seriously compete with the actual subject detail. Hence the 1,200 line rating.) "Extinction" of the target patterns didn't occur until 1,600 lines or so.
  
  
• Image Noise: Noise is present but for the most part invisible at ISO 50 and 100, visible at ISO 200, objectionable at ISO 400. In common with essentially all the other five megapixel consumer and prosumer cameras on the market today, the S60 is starting to show some of the consequences of the megapixel race, in the form of increased noise levels relative to earlier models with lower-resolution sensors. - By way of comparison, the noise levels in my "Davebox" test shot captured at ISO 50 with the S50 are almost twice those found with Canon's own S30 3-megapixel model from a year or two back. That said, the S60's noise levels are quite acceptable at ISO 50 and 100, and within the range of what I'd personally accept at ISO 200. At ISO 400, the noise is obtrusive to the point that I really wouldn't consider the camera usable at that level, but even there, it isn't as nasty-looking as that of some of its competitors.
  
  
• Closeups: A small macro area with excellent detail and good color. Flash has trouble throttling down though. The S60 performed well in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of only 2.28 x 1.71 inches (58 x 43 millimeters). Resolution was very high, showing a lot of fine detail in the dollar bill, coins, and brooch. Details were slightly soft in the coins and brooch, due to the limited depth of field at such a short shooting distance (an optical fact of life, not the fault of the camera). All four corners of the frame were somewhat soft (a common failing of digicam macro modes, caused by "curvature of field" in the optics), but details were sharp in the dollar bill. The S60's flash didn't throttle down well for the macro area, however, and overexposed the shot. - Plan on using external lighting for your closest macro shots with the S60.
  
  
• Night Shots: Great low-light performance, with good color and exposure even at the darkest light levels. True in-the-dark focusing (at close ranges, anyway) too, thanks to a bright AF-assist light. The S60 produced clear, bright, usable images down to the 1/16 foot-candle (0.67 lux) limit of my test, with good color at all the 100, 200, and 400 ISO settings. Images were only bright as low as 1/8 foot-candle (1.2 lux) at the ISO 50 setting, though you could arguably use the image shot at the 1/16 foot-candle light level. As you'd expect, noise was low at the ISO 50 setting, increasing with the ISO level, becoming quite pronounced at ISO 400. At all levels though, the noise was quite fine-grained, which made it less obtrusive than it would be otherwise. The S60 also focused very well in the dark, at least for subjects that were within the roughly 5-8 foot range of its bright autofocus-assist illuminator. (The range of the AF-assist light will obviously vary strongly as a function of the brightness, color, and contrast of the subject.)
  
  
• Viewfinder Accuracy: A tight optical viewfinder, but very accurate LCD monitor. The S60's optical viewfinder was quite tight, showing only about 82 percent of the final image area at both wide angle and telephoto. The LCD monitor did much better, with close to 100 percent accuracy across the zoom range. Given that I like LCD monitors to be as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the S60's LCD monitor performed very well here, but I'd really like to see a somewhat more accurate optical viewfinder.
  
  
• Optical Distortion: Slightly high barrel distortion, but almost no pincushion. Coma and chromatic aberration at wide angle, virtually none at normal and telephoto focal lengths. Optical distortion on the S60 is a little higher than average at the wide-angle end, where I measured approximately 0.9 percent barrel distortion. (Average is about 0.8 percent, still too high in my opinion, but for better or worse, more or less the industry standard. Note though, that the 0.8 percent average is common on lenses that don't extend as far in the wide angle direction as the one on the S60 does.) The telephoto end fared much better, as I found only 0.08 percent pincushion distortion (about two pixels' worth). Chromatic aberration in the S60's lens is a fairly strong function of focal length, showing a fair bit of distortion at the widest angle zoom setting, but relatively little at "normal" focal lengths (~50mm equivalent) or at telephoto. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) As I observed earlier, the S60's lens generally shows good optical quality, but doesn't seem to be markedly better than lenses with similar zoom ratios on full-sized cameras. - It looks like Canon chose to apply the technical benefits of their advanced high-index aspheric lens-molding technology to deliver a more compact, wider-angle lens but the same optical quality, rather than one with more conventional focal length and size characteristics but better quality.
  
  
• Shutter Lag and Cycle Time: Average shutter lag and cycle time performance. With full-autofocus shutter lag times ranging from 0.77 to 0.99 seconds depending on the zoom setting, and cycle times on the order of 2.4 seconds for up to five large/fine images in a series, the S60 hits the "average" speed bracket pretty much right on the money. Where it does excel though, is in its prefocus shutter lag, which is a very fast 0.084 seconds.
  
  
• Battery Life: Very good battery life for a fairly compact camera. While I couldn't perform my usual direct power-drain measurements on the S60, I did measure its worst-case run time with a freshly-charged battery at 132 minutes. This is a fair bit better than average for cameras of the S60's size, although I do still strongly recommend purchasing a second battery right along with the S60 when you buy it.

Conclusion

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Last year's PowerShot S45 and S50 impressed me as well-built cameras with excellent image quality and rich feature sets. This year's S60 model constitutes a significant upgrade to the S50, with a wider-angle zoom lens and improved control layout. As always though, image quality is the real test, and fortunately the S60 does very well in that department as well. Image noise on the S60 seems slightly higher across the board than on the S50, but it's kept pretty well in check for ISOs of 200 and below, to the point that most users won't notice it. Color, tonality, and resolution are all about the same as on the S50, while viewfinder accuracy is somewhat improved. Also, along with the wider-angle capability, the S60's new lens offers dramatically improved macro performance. The one down-note I found relative to the S50 was that image noise levels were slightly higher than those of the earlier model. The big question with the S60 though, is how big a difference does Canon's unique high-index aspheric lens-molding technology make in the optical quality of the lens: Is the new lens indeed of better quality than one would expect, were it made conventionally? The answer seems to be a qualified yes. At its widest angle setting, I found about as much coma and chromatic aberration as I've come to expect from consumer-level digicam lenses, but it bears noting that the S60's lens is (a) wider-angle than most, and (b) more compact than most. The upshot seems to be that Canon's advanced lens technology did make a difference, even though the absolute distortion levels were on par with physically larger lenses of similar focal length range and aperture. Once you get away from the wide angle focal lengths and into the range from "normal" to telephoto though, the S60's lens really shines, producing very sharp images from corner to corner, with very chromatic aberration. All in all, the S60 is a really fine all-around digicam, with the advantage of providing wider-angle focal lengths than you'd normally be able to find in such a compact case size. Definitely a Dave's Pick.

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